Every Woman Every Child is a global movement, but it is also a local one, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in remarks at an event titled "Taking Action Summit on Every Woman, Every Child” at JP Morgan Chase Headquarters in New York City. The event brought together some of the most prominent people in the areas [...]

Four peacekeepers from the UN Disengagement Observer Force, also known as UNDOF, were detained on Tuesday by an unidentified armed group. The peacekeepers, from the Philippines Battalion, were patrolling in the Area of Separation, near Al Jamlah. UNDOF has been deployed in the Golan Heights since 1974, to maintain a ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian [...]

Two new laboratory-confirmed cases of avian influenza have been reported by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China. The cases of the A(H7N9) virus were found in two residents of Fujian province, a 69 year old man and a nine year old boy. Both became ill at the end of April. As of [...]

Unusually low rainfall is causing a drought condition in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, according to the International Organization for Migration, the IOM. IOM Spokesman Jumbe Omari Jumbe says the lack of rain is leading to a precarious humanitarian situation for thousands of people. The Marshall Islands, a group of more than one thousand [...]

More than 700 people were killed and over 2,500 injured when an 8-story factory building collapsed in Bangladesh on the 24th of April. The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and the Bangladeshi Red Crescent are very much involved in the rescue efforts, working with the army and with the fire brigade during the [...]

Whether by car, motorbike or on foot, Africa is on the move. But with the continent leading the world in road traffic fatalities, a public health specialist from Kenya is urging African governments to do more to prevent these deaths. Dr. Wilson Odero, who teaches at Moi University in western Kenya, says nearly 65 per [...]

Somalia is building peace. Yet, it is still in the midst of conflict, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told the Second London Conference on Somalia on Tuesday. He pointed to the government's priorities which, he said, provided the basis for the London Conference. First, he explained, security requires capable and accountable institutions. AMISOM – the African [...]

Violence is spiralling out of control in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the ICRC, as fighting between the army and armed groups intensifies. Hospitals and other health facilities are struggling to cope with weapon-wounded patients, says Peter Maurer, President of the [...]

UNAIDS has commended the government of Rwanda for its leadership in the national AIDS response. The country has made significant progress in its HIV response and is on track to meet national and global HIV related goals. Executive Director Michel Sidibé congratulated President Kagame on the significant progress Rwanda has made in its AIDS response [...]

Freedom of the press is considered as critical in promoting transparency and good governance in a democracy. To underline the importance of this freedom, the United Nations observes World Press Freedom Day on 3 May each year. In South Sudan, the youngest nation in the world that will celebrate the second anniversary of its independence [...]

Close to 7 million people inside Syria are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Nearly half of those who currently require assistance are children. OCHA says movement by internally displaced persons continues to be large-scale and fluid, as many Syrians are displaced multiple [...]

The United Nations Human Rights Council has appointed a three- member commission of inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Michael Donald Kirby, a former Judge of the High Court of Australia will chair the commission whose other members are Ms Sonja Biserko, a human rights lawyer from Serbia [...]